His screen shifted to show the current status of the battle, and it was starting to look ugly. Calledonius had lost more ships, but surprisingly his line hadn’t crumbled. The old bastard has a set of balls on him, I’ll give him that. The corporate fleet had already swung around and began enveloping Calledonius’s flank. His ships tried to buttress that part of the line, but they just didn’t have the numbers. They couldn’t simultaneously hold the line, and fend off the flanking attack. They were making a heroic stand, but their prospects looked grim.
Jon tapped his comm display and Steeg’s face appeared. “Colonel, I’ve sent you the tactical display from the comm drone. We need to jump behind those corporate ships now.”
“I see them,” said Steeg. “Setting coordinates. Prepare to jump.” Steeg delivered the jump order to the fleet.
Jon turned to Kevin. “Launch all birds the second we land.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Ensign Petrovic, prepare to fire weapons.”
“Weapons ready, Sir.”
As the fleet jumped, the Freedom’s viewscreen switched from displaying peaceful distant stars, to the hellish chaos of battle.
“Launching fighters and bombers,” said Kevin.
“Set rail guns to offensive mode. Fire weapons at will,” said Jon. “Target their engines.”
They had landed directly behind the flanking ships. The enemy engines were exposed, as they were focused on the fight against Calledonius in front of them. While they had already deployed their point defense systems, their engines remained vulnerable to energy weapons and projectiles. Jon’s ships took full advantage. They wasted no time, unleashing a torrent of energy bolts and depleted uranium at the enemy.
Jon’s tactical display showed the Reiver’s icon disappear and reappear directly above an enemy destroyer. Both ships disappeared as the Reiver jumped the corporate ship away. Seconds later the Reiver’s blue icon reappeared above a second corporate destroyer. Both blue and red icons again disappeared, as Jonas took a second ship out of the action. If the Reiver could repeat this tactic over and over, it could single handedly diminish the corporate fleet’s fighting ability substantially, and go a long way toward defeating the enemy. Jon knew, however, that they couldn’t simply rely on the Reiver. They had to crush the corporate fleet, or they would return.
The viewscreen lit up with the white light of an exploding reactor, as the combination of weapons fire, and a well-placed Scorpion torpedo destroyed an enemy cruiser. The bombers were all in range now, and their Scorpions were flying. The bridge crew was forced to shield their eyes from the blinding light on the viewscreen. The torpedoes hit their targets. Multiple warships exploded. When the flash of light dissipated the viewscreen revealed the smoking debris of several warships. Jon noted the damage to nearby ships caused by the explosions. Every little bit helps, he thought.
Jon’s tactical screen showed several warships turning to confront the attack by Jon’s ships on their rear. He’d been waiting for this. Jon tapped his comm screen and General Calledonius appeared in short order.
“What the hell are you playing at Pike? Where were you? Why did you take so long to join us?” said Calledonius, his trademark scowl permanently etched on his face.
“I needed the enemy to flank you, General,” said Jon.
“What? Have you lost your mind? Do you know how many people I’ve lost because of your stunt?”
“It had to be done, General. It allowed us to get behind the flanking units and isolate them.”
Calledonius looked down, presumably at a tactical display. “I see what you’ve done, Pike. Damn you, you should’ve told me. It wasn’t part of the original plan.”
“My apologies, General, but the flanking ships are about to fall apart. I need you to hit hard on your flank now.”
“That will weaken the front line.”
“Only temporarily. When we destroy the enemy on your flank, we can focus all our forces on the enemy’s main line.”
Calledonius looked down again, studying his display, then nodded. “Very well. Let’s finish them off.” The General’s face disappeared from the viewscreen, and Jon noticed on his tactical display that several of the Calledonius ships were moving to join the fight on their flank. It seemed, however, that the corporate fleet had changed tactics, and several corporate cruisers and destroyers would soon be on top of Jon’s ships.
Jon tapped his comm screen and Jonas appeared.
“What is it now?” said the grizzled Reiver.
“Jonas, do you see those corporate ships converging on us?”
“Yeah, I see them.”
“Focus on those destroyers, and take them out of the fight. We can handle the ships in front of us.”
Jonas nodded. “Leave them to me,” he said, and his face was gone from the screen.
Jon watched his blue icon disappear from his tactical screen and reappear above one of the advancing destroyers, then both were gone.
“Bombers are being reloaded,” said Kevin.
“Good,” said Jon. He tapped his screen and brought up Commander Konos.
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good work, Commander. I want you to change focus now. Bring up your tactical display. Do you see those ships bearing down on us?”
“I see them, Sir.”
“They’re your new targets.”
“Understood. We’ll give them hell, Sir.”
“I know you will, Commander. Good hunting.” Jon looked over at Kevin. “Order fighter squadrons to engage the ships advancing on our rear flank. With any luck they’ll keep their attention away from our bombers.”
On the viewscreen another white flash as an enemy ship succumbed to the battleship’s firepower. The rest of the enemy ships were in complete disarray now, and some were openly trying to retreat. Unfortunately for them, they had no avenue of escape, and retreating only made matters worse. Calledonius’s ships didn’t hesitate. They closed in and cut the fleeing enemy down without mercy. More white flashes followed, as several ships were destroyed in rapid succession. A handful of the original flanking ships remained, struggling to defend against the ships surrounding them. Jon felt a pang of pity for them. Their cause was hopeless, and they would be destroyed. Calledonius would not give them quarter, and neither would Jon. An example would be set here today, one that would be remembered for some time, lest any of the corporations got any ideas about conquest again.
Jon checked the developments on their rear flank. Jonas had already removed some of the destroyers from the enemy ranks, but the enemy seemed to be adapting to the maneuver, and the larger heavy cruisers moved closer to the destroyers, attempting to block the Reiver from getting within range of a jump. When Jonas tried to remove another ship, he was met with heavy fire from both and had to retreat, jumping back to the relative safety of the fleet. Jon tapped his screen to bring up Jonas’s face.
“We’re taking too much fire to jump in,” said Jonas. “I’ve already had a hull breach.”
“You’ve done well, Jonas. Stay with the fleet. You’re no good to me if you get yourself blown up.”
“Your sympathy is touching, Jon Pike.”
Jon grinned. “It’s not sympathy. If I let anything happen to you, Breeah will never let me hear the end of it.”
“You’re right. My daughter would avenge me. You would be wise to sleep with one eye open if something happened to me,” said Jonas, breaking out in riotous laughter.
Jon rolled his eyes. “Anyway, look on your tactical screen, Jonas. Our bombers are moving to intercept. They’ll deal with the rest of those ships.”
“Not if there’s any more of that,” said Jonas.
Jon watched as a bomber icon disappeared on his display. Then a second bomber blinked off the screen. They were taking heavy fire. The enemy wasn’t fooled by the fighters and were throwing everything they had at the bombers. A third bomber disappeared.
“A Reiver’s work is never done,” said Jonas, sighing. His face disappeared fr
om Jon’s screen. Jon saw the Reiver’s icon disappear and reappear directly above the bombers and open fire on the enemy ships.
“Shit, that crazy old bastard is trying to draw their fire.”
“It might work,” said Kevin. “The bombers are almost in range.”
Jon tapped his screen and Jonas appeared again. “Ha! You weren’t expecting that, were you Jon Pike?”
“Jonas get the hell out of there.”
“Sir, the Reiver is taking heavy damage. She can’t endure much more of this.”
“Jonas! Jump away.”
Jonas stumbled as his ship was pummeled, and his image flickered in and out.
“Torpedoes away,” said Kevin. “Bombers are jumping back.”
“Jonas, the bombers have launched their torpedoes. Jump away now.”
“I can’t. That last hit took out our jump system.”
“Shit,” said Jon.
“Sleep with one eye open, Jon Pike,” said Jonas, with a ghoulish smile. He stumbled again and his face disappeared from the screen.
Jon looked to the tactical display, but the Reiver’s blue icon was gone. The red icons that were firing on him were now blinking off the screen in rapid succession, as the Scorpion torpedoes made impact. Jon struck his console with his fist. All the Reivers were on that ship. Breeah’s father was on that ship. All of them, gone.
Colonel Bast’s face suddenly appeared on Jon’s screen. “Admiral, the Reiver has sustained heavy damage, but will survive.”
“What are you talking about, Colonel? The Reiver has been destroyed.”
“No, Admiral, I had been monitoring the Reiver’s status, and saw she was in great peril. So I had the Ronin jump in directly above her and jump her away.”
“Then they’re alive?”
“Yes, Admiral, although considering the damage they have sustained, I am sure there will be many casualties.”
Jon breathed out a sigh of relief. He had been so focused on Jonas, he didn’t see the Ronin jump in on his tactical screen. “Thank you, Colonel. That was quick thinking.”
“Your welcome, Admiral. We are still down a warship, however.”
“We’ll have to make do,” said Jon. His tactical display showed the surrounded enemy ships were mostly destroyed. Calledonius’s ships would have no problem mopping up. With the threat on their rear now neutralized, Jon’s ships could turn their attention to the main corporate line. The corporate fleet would now have to deal with Jon outflanking them. Jon tapped his screen and the Chaanisar commanders appeared, as did Konos. “Calledonius can mop up. Let’s focus on the corporate right flank. I want it demolished.”
“Yes, Sir,” came the reply.
Looking back to his tactical display, Jon’s blue moved in to attack the main line. The tide had turned.
Chapter 57
The battle wore on for almost a full day. The New Byzantium fleet had suffered heavy losses, and two of Jon’s Heavy Cruisers were so badly damaged that they had to jump away from the battlefield. That left only the Freedom, the Ronin, and Colonel Steeg’s battleship. Their tactics changed accordingly, adopting a strategy that focused on mobility. Since Jon’s jump system had been damaged, his carrier became the anchor, while the Ronin and Steeg’s battleship used their jump systems to confound, the enemy. Bast and Steeg developed a tactic where they would isolate an enemy ship by jumping in on both sides of it, and pound it into submission, targeting the ship’s point defense batteries with their heavy guns, and finishing it off with missiles when its defenses were down.
Konos’s jump squadron adopted a more flexible strategy, and used their jump systems to jump to different sections of the corporate line, launch torpedoes, and jump away. Since few ships could survive direct hits from five Scorpion torpedoes, and most couldn’t handle three, or four hits, the bombers focused more on isolating and eliminating the larger enemy ships. They did this by splitting the remaining nine bombers into two groups, and having an entire group target an individual ship. This was generally enough to destroy the enemy ship, but in the case of a heavier capital ship, if the ship survived it had been so badly damaged that it didn’t pose much threat.
In this fashion Jon’s fleet picked apart the enemy, while Calledonius pressed with his greater numbers. As the day wore on the scales were eventually tipped in New Byzantium’s favor, and the corporate fleet ended up being out numbered. As Calledonius’s advantage grew, his ships steadily surrounded the enemy until their advantage was so great that progress accelerated. Toward the end the corporate ships began to surrender, but Calledonius wouldn’t accept anything other than a surrender by the entire fleet, which for some reason was held back. It was only when the enemy fleet was so badly damaged, and the ships were rapidly being destroyed, that the fleet surrender finally came. Calledonius accepted, and the surviving enemy ships allowed themselves to be boarded.
Cheers broke out on the bridge of the Freedom with the surrender. Kevin reached out a hand, and Jon shook it.
“Congratulations, Admiral,” said Kevin.
“Thanks Kevin. You did great work today,” said Jon with a smile. He turned to his console and opened a comm with the entire fleet. “Congratulations. You should all be proud of yourselves. Each and every one of you fought bravely today, and I am proud to serve with all of you.”
Jon looked around the bridge. Everyone was jubilant, albeit exhausted. “Commander St. Clair, you have the bridge.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Jon headed for his quarters. There were only two people he wanted to celebrate the victory with. Many of the crewmembers he passed in the corridors had smiles on their faces, the widest smiles belonging to the New Byzantium recruits. It felt great to see and feel their emotions.
Arriving at his quarters, the door slid open and he was immediately assaulted by Anki, who lunged through the air at him arms outstretched. Jon’s hands shot out to catch the little girl midflight. He pulled her into a hug as she giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“I heard your announcement,” she said excitedly. “Is it true? Did we win?”
“It’s true,” said Jon, laughing. Breeah stood behind Anki with a warm smile on her face. He paused for a moment, filling his eyes with her beauty. She gave Jon a knowing look. “Come now Anki, loosen your grip. You will end up strangling our Admiral.”
Anki giggled some more, and released her hold of Jon. He lowered her down to the floor, and she took off, running around pointing her fingers, and making “pew, pew” noises, as she fought imaginary enemies.
Breeah stepped up to Jon and he took her into his arms, kissing her softly on the lips. “So it is over?” she said.
“Yes, it is over. The enemy fleet has surrendered. Calledonius can deal with all of that, while we take some r&r.”
“Mmmm, I like the sound of that,” Breeah said with a suggestive glance that made Jon’s knees go weak.
“Pew! Pew!” Anki circled both of them, her fingers shaped as guns pointing at them. “Pew! Pew! You’re aliens and I’ve defeated you.”
The word aliens made Jon grimace.
“What’s wrong?” said Breeah, concern in her voice.
“Earth.”
Breeah frowned. “We can do nothing for them at this moment. Enjoy your victory. Your crew needs rest. We will see Earth soon enough.”
Jon took in a deep breath and gave Breeah a smile. “You’re right.”
“And before we leave for Earth, we will take some time and visit the Seibens. We will celebrate with them while Anki plays and swims in the sea. Understood?”
Jon pulled her in closer. “Understood.”
Chapter 58
“Well look, if it isn’t the hero of New Byzantium,” said Seiben, holding the door to his house open for Jon, Kevin, Breeah, and Anki.
“Anki!” shouted Alina from inside the house.
With a nod from her mother, Anki ran into the house to play with Seiben’s daughter.
“Jon, Kevin, Breeah, how are you?” said Darla
, Seiben’s wife, walking up to the door.
“Hi Darla,” said Jon.
Hello Darla,” said Kevin.
Darla smiled at the two men, and took Breeah by the hand. “Come, let’s catch up and let these three talk about whatever it is they talk about.” Darla and Breeah walked away laughing.
Jon, Kevin and Seiben watched them go, then Seiben turned to Jon, “Don’t let that hero talk go to your head. You would’ve still been floating in space if I never saved your ass.”
“I know, old man,” said Jon, slapping Seiben on the back.
“Take it easy, you gorilla. You’ll break my back with those big mitts of yours. And I thought I told you to stop with the old man crap.”
“But it suits you,” said Kevin.
“It does suit you, old man,” said Jon.
“I should’ve let you rot in space,” Seiben said with a scowl. “Come one, let’s go outside and have a drink. I’ve got some fresh seafood on the grill that I’ve got to keep an eye on.”
The three men walked into the kitchen, where Seiben handed each of them a bottle of the local ale, then proceeded out onto the back patio.
“Have a seat,” said Seiben, gesturing to a couple of chairs, while he went to a very large grill, loaded down with fresh New Byzantium seafood. While much of it had been brought over from Earth when New Byzantium was first settled, some of the seafood still looked alien to Jon. He knew from previous meals that it was delicious, however.
“The food looks great,” said Kevin.
“Another day in paradise, my friend,” said Seiben. “I should’ve listened to Darla a long time ago and relocated here. We eat like this every day. You two should settle down here. It’s beautiful.”
“One day,” said Jon.
“One day?” said Seiben, casting an appraising look at Jon. “Now you listen to me, Admiral Pike. ‘One day’ will never come. There will always be something you need to do first. But I’m here to tell you that this is what you need to do first. Trust me. You’ll be much happier, and so will Breeah and Anki.”
The Pike Chronicles - Books 1 - 10 Page 91
